Adrenaline
by Zerrat
Summary: A dark past and an uncertain future – what better way to take your mind off it all, than to do something crazy? It's definitely the most extreme thing Lightning's done since she got to Gran Pulse. Lightning/Fang


**Adrenaline  
**

**Pairings and Characters:** Lightning/Fang, Serah.  
**Rating:** PG/T  
**Word Count: **3,561  
**Spoiler Warning:** Contains spoilers for FFXIII, and in particular, Chapter 11. Ye be warned.  
**Summary:** A dark past and an uncertain future – what better way to take your mind off it all, than to do something crazy? Lightning/Fang

**Author's Notes: **Written for the fang_lightning holiday prompts. 23rd December: Wind. A bit of a tenuous connection, I admit. :B

* * *

_The diving board really was a long way up, Claire realized with a gulp as she looked over the edge, being very careful not to lean over it too far. She felt a little light headed as she took in the distance between the board and the pool. Had it really been that __high when she'd agreed to do this? Serah had wanted to go on it so badly, and mom had only agreed to it provided that Claire went up as well. She'd only agreed to it because Serah had bribed her with that strawberry candy… _

_She could see her mom and dad on the poolside grass below, waving up at her, waiting for her to jump off the board. Claire waved hesitantly back, trying valiantly to hide her nervousness. _

"_Claire!" she heard Serah huff in frustration behind her, drawing the name out in a long whine. "Hurry up! It's cold up here and I just wanna jump in the pool again!"_

_Claire shot her six-year-old sister a __**look **__over her shoulder. "I am __hurrying!"_

_Serah was right though. Up so high, the air was freezing on her damp skin, and she had to resist a shiver. But there was no way she was jumping off that edge, not up this high. No way was she that crazy._

"_But Claire!" Serah stamped her foot for emphasis this time, and Claire rolled her eyes. Little sisters were such pains, and if Serah didn't stop bugging her, she wasn't going to get rid of the next spider Serah found in her room. Then Serah would be sorry. _

_There were people starting to line up behind Serah now, and Claire looked at the edge of the diving board with a swallow. Maybe it wasn't too late to get off, but then she'd have to put up with Serah's complaining. Serah would tell everyone at school, and they'd all call her chicken. She heard Serah huff again, heard the sound of rapid footsteps. Claire looked around just in time to see her sister's grin, a giggle, a flash of strawberry blonde hair and suddenly she was plummeting. _

_Claire hit the surface of the water awkwardly, making the skin of her back sting from the impact. She choked as she inhaled a lungful of awful-tasting water, and the chlorine in the pool's water burned her eyes so that she couldn't make out where the edge was. She floundered for a bit in the water, coughing and spluttering, until a pair of strong arms wrapped around her torso and began to tow her back to the pool's edge. She struggled against her savior, managing to hit him in the face before she realized it had been her dad all along. _

_Oops. _

_Her dad finally deposited her at the edge of the pool, where she clung onto the solid concrete for dear life, wheezing and still spitting up water. He rubbed the growing welt on his chin ruefully, but his blue eyes were calm as he surveyed his daughter. Claire ducked her head. She was so going to be in for it when she got home. Mom always said that using violence to solve your problems was wrong, and the last time that Claire had brawled with Serah had seen her stuff confiscated for a whole week. _

_This time it was all Serah's fault. It wasn't fair! _

_Finally, her dad sighed, smoothing her waterlogged hair back from her eyes. Everyone always said that Claire and Serah looked like mom, and Claire liked that, but sometimes she wished she was blonde like her dad. She seemed to have gotten his unruly spikes, though. _

"_Saw you freeze up there," he told her in his usual, quiet voice. "Why?"_

_Claire frowned at him, attempting to emulate his grave look. "I'm scared of heights."_

_Her dad smiled a little at that, lifting her out of the pool with his strong arms and setting her on the edge. "Just remember this for next time, then. Just hurry up and do it, if you're going to do it at all. Because it's not a matter of can or can't. You just do. Now go back up there and show me what a Farron is made of, okay?"_

* * *

As she jumped up the face of the crumbling Pulsian ruins, careful not to linger on footholds that looked like they wouldn't hold her weight for long, Lightning paid no more heed to the height of her climb than the warming sun in the sky. She acknowledged both, somewhere in her mind, but it had been a long time since she'd been scared of heights and falling. But for the Focus and Serah, it had been a long time since she'd been truly scared of anything. Her father's words had remained in her mind, and were no longer just words of encouragement, but a way of living.

Her breath was coming hard as she finished her climb to the top of the latest group of ruins, but began to return to normal as she looked out over the edge of the ruins. Maybe this time she'd find a city in the distance, or see a hint of human life. Smoke, roads, farms. Anything at all would do at this point, even if it wouldn't help with the brands.

Her heart sank a little as she took in the view. There was only wilderness, as far as she could see, huge and untamed by civilization for hundreds of years. The cloud-streaked sky seemed blinding in the intensity of its blue colour, and Lightning shielded her eyes against the glare.

Pulse was incredibly beautiful, in a wild way that Cocoon had never seemed to emulate with its mechanics and carefully maintained, pristine gardens. Lightning rested a hand on her hip, still awed by the view from the vantage point. But for all its beauty, Pulse was filled to overflowing with massive monsters and mobs of cie'th. The world was dangerous like nothing that Lightning had ever encountered before. The wind stirred her hair and cape as she looked out into the distance.

There was nothing up there. Another waste of time.

With that cold realization, she quickly checked that her anti-grav device was still on her. She switched it to active, and she ran for the edge and leaped out into the cold air. Even if she could never escape the fear of her Focus, the wind rushing past her as she plummeted towards the earth took her mind off it – even if just for a little while. She was almost looking forwards to finding out what kind of insane stunt Fang had decided on today.

* * *

The relentless exploration of dead ruins felt different, Lightning had come to realize, when Fang decided to tag along for the trip. It felt less desperate, less heartbreaking when they found another view of the same endless wilderness, though surely the lack of findings should be bothering Fang more than ever. But somehow, the harsh reality didn't seem so awful when it was Fang racing her to the top of a set of ruins, or daring Lightning to jump off the top of them _without _the aid of her anti-grav equipment. Lightning could swear that the other woman really had it in for her, but she couldn't say that she minded the foolhardy challenges.

Fortunately, Fang would only challenge Lightning to something she'd actually do _herself_. Then again, Fang had some odd ideas about gravity and flight, and some days, the things she suggested were enough to give even Lightning pause. Ruins stacked so high that the top vanished into the clouds? Check. Overgrown with trees and vines? Check. Crumbling to pieces, and the entire structure swaying dangerously in the wind? Double check, and sold.

Today was one of those days, Lightning realized, as she looked up at the old Pulse command tower with a sinking stomach. Climbing that thing wouldn't be just dangerous. It would be outright suicide. Fang stood to her left, hands on her hips and an expectant look on her face as she watched Lightning size up the latest challenge.

Lightning turned to her, grimacing. "You have got to be joking. That thing won't even support two people climbing _carefully, _let alone a race to the top."

But if it _was_ possible_… _Lightning felt a thrill run down her spine as she looked up at the tower, to where the top faded into the heavy clouds and beyond. Even with the low cloud cover, the view would be incredible, the bragging rights indisputable. She brought herself up short. Fal'Cie, she wasn't really considering this suicidal stunt, was she?

"What, are you chicken?" Fang asked with a grin, clapping Lightning on the pauldron as she strode forwards to examine the tower's base. "Can't say I'm surprised. You Cocoon folk are the biggest bunch of pansies I've ever met, after all. Scared of a little tower."

Lightning let a small smile show on her lips as she crossed her arms over her chest. "The old 'chicken' line. You must be running dry on your taunts, if you've resorted to that unoriginal insult."

Fang smirked as she turned back to Lightning, not the least bit bothered that she'd been called on her usual theatrics. "I see that you're learnin', Sunshine. Point still stands though. I'm willin' to give it a whirl, but only if you are."

_Clever. The ball's in my court now. If I say yes, it's my fault that we climbed it and it collapsed from under us. If I say no, I'm going to be called a coward for the next few days. _Lightning exhaled sharply, looking up the tower again. There was really only one thing for it.

"Fine. We climb it," Lightning told the huntress standing next to her, but Etro, she knew she was going to regret rising to Fang's obvious bait. _If _she survived the climb.

"_There's _that fightin' spirit," Fang told her with a wink. How did the huntress manage to look so arrogant, confident and self-centered, but then smile at Lightning like _that, _all at the one time? Lightning put it out of her mind, simply opting to answer Fang's smirk with one of her own.

Fang just raised an eyebrow at the blatant challenge in Lightning's expression. "Oh, so we're in _that_ kind of mood today, are we? So you gonna show me what a Farron is made of, then?"

Lightning unfolded her arms, stretching and looking up at the tower. This was going to be the stupidest thing she'd done since jumping out of an airship, back when they'd first came to Pulse. And given Fang's other challenges, that was saying something. "You know it."

_Because it's not a matter of can or can't, you just do. _That was the way she lived now, and if she could climb this tower, then she maybe she could do anything. Maybe even fight her fate as a l'Cie.

"So we start the race at the count of three, then?" At Lightning's curt nod, Fang grinned and shifted her position to a ready crouch. "On yer marks… one, two-"

Fang was sprinting, leaping for the tower's most secure foothold before she shouted the word three, Lightning realized with a loud curse as she sprang into action half a second too late. So Fang was going to play that game? Lightning grabbed a handful of Fang's blue silken clothes and yanked on it hard, smirking as Fang's grip on the rubble slipped and the huntress landed on her ass at the base of the tower.

By the time Fang had scrambled up, Lightning had vaulted up another few feet, hands grabbing onto any handhold that would take her weight even for half a second. Loose debris rained down from her position as she levered herself up, footholds shattered from under her even as she leaped up for the next one. Sometimes she was only held aloft by a handful of the ivy that choked the tower.

Fang had the luck of the devil, though, as she'd quickly drawn level with Lightning's position. Must have been a rapid series of secure footholds, Lightning thought vaguely as she hauled herself over a particularly vexing slab sticking out from the tower's face. Just to her right she could hear Fang growling as she fought with the ivy that had aided Lightning's own ascent, could hear her breath coming harsh and loud over the sound of falling rocks and rushing wind.

_This is actually working,_ Lightning realized as she launched herself up as high as she could manage, grabbing hold of a rusty pipe that looked like it might support her for the instant she'd be dangling from it. The wind was harsh and cold in her lungs as she gasped for air, and she reached out to grab hold of the metal pipe. It crumbled under Lightning's touch, but it held her for just long enough, letting her use her upwards momentum to swing herself up to the next unstable surface.

There was barely time for thought at this point – Lightning just had to trust in her gut and her luck now, and she loathed the idea. Luck was always something that Fang had relished, and it appeared that her devotion to Lady Luck was starting to pay off. Planning and strategic approaches were where she usually excelled.

Lightning felt a surge of annoyance as Fang passed her by with a single jump. Etro, the woman had even had the audacity to _wink _at her as she rocketed past where Lightning still struggled to find a good grip.

With a low growl, Lightning redoubled her efforts, determined not to be left behind. Fang was a nightmarish gloater to deal with, Lightning had previously learned on the challenges she'd lost out to Fang in. One more comment about 'soft Cocoon folk' and she might just throttle the huntress once and for all, Vanille's pouting be damned!

The rocks and surfaces grew slick as they passed through the low-hanging clouds covering the peak of the tower. Lightning's breath was coming ragged as her grip on the tower's surface slipped for one terrifying moment, but a desperate handful of a weedy-looking tree's branches stopped her fall for just long enough to let her find another foothold. She craned her neck upwards for an instant, blinking away sweat from her eyes. Not much further to the top, and Fang? Fang was a good few feet in front of her.

The tower seemed to rock beneath her as a particularly strong gust of wind pinned them both down for a moment. Etro, if that wind had been a fraction stronger, the entire structure might have come down around them. But there was just one last chance to make it to the top, just one last chance to stop Fang from seizing victory. One last chance to prevent the inevitable bragging. Lightning refused to go down without a struggle.

_Not a matter of can or can't, _Lightning told herself forcefully. _Just do. _

To trust in her luck. It seemed easier said than done, but with a harsh curse, Lightning launched herself upwards again, hands scrabbling and slipping against wet concrete and old stone for _anything. _She was gasping as she drew level with Fang – the huntress gave her a look of surprise. That was enough to galvanize Lightning's will. She could do this. She could climb this deathtrap and she could _win. _

Fang's grip on the tower slipped a little, and she slid down the face of the tower a few feet. It gave Lightning just enough time to snatch her sweet victory from the jaws of defeat, and she hauled herself over the last edge. She collapsed atop the tower with a gasp, her chest heaving for air, her muscles burning, sweat stinging in her eyes. Her fingers had been skinned raw from the desperate climb, but nothing that a quick cure wouldn't fix.

Defeated for now, Fang flopped to the old concrete beside her, and from the sounds of her ragged breaths, she was just as worse for wear as Lightning. Lightning cracked an eye open, taking in Fang's red face and sweaty bangs. For once, the woman didn't have a smirk on her lips, but a proper smile. Lightning tore her eyes away from the rare sight, just looking up and the swirling clouds above them.

Not much of a view up here, the cloud cover had seen to that, and Lightning supposed that she should have expected it. But _Etro _that had been a climb. Lightning pushed herself up, her muscles still feeling like jelly, still struggling for breath. She'd won the challenge, and that was all there was to it. Or was it? Lightning glanced over towards Fang again, who'd rested her head against the rocks behind them. She was still red from the climb, her green eyes exhilarated, her slightly dampened hair stirring in the cold wind.

It hadn't been the first time that Lightning had felt the urge to press her lips against Fang's, to claim victory in another way. Normally, she'd easily put such unbecoming thoughts to rest, but today, _now –_

It must have been the lack of oxygen up there, Lightning realized vaguely. It sapped her wits, made her more susceptible to these thoughts. And the thrill of the climb, of victory, hadn't helped matters. Her breathing was still ragged, but her heart rate was normalizing.

Fang was glancing to her now, those amused green eyes meeting her own.

"Sometimes, you gotta do something real crazy to get your mind off everything. Up here in the wind and clouds, trouble seems to be a lot further away," the other woman told Lightning in a voice that still sounded slightly puffed. "Be it the Focus, the others, or somethin' else…"

That had been Fang's reasoning behind the insane challenges, then. For just a moment, forgetting about Serah, Cocoon, the Focus, or whatever dark agenda Barthandelus wanted them to fill, was good for her sanity. It was good for the progression of her brand, too. The mark felt a little less constricted up here, when all of her worries were stranded at the base of the command tower, left behind in the ruin and rubble.

There was a peculiar catch in Fang's voice, though.

"You have a lot you wanna take your mind off?" Lightning asked quietly, the buzz still thrilling in her veins.

Fang made a small sound in her throat – bitter amusement. "More than you guys realize. At least you're up to the challenge, Sunshine." Despite the sudden shadows of guilt in her eyes, Fang was never one to wallow in her own regrets and angst, no matter how dark her mostly-forgotten history could be.

Lightning continued to observe the huntress, out the corner of her eye. "Does it usually work for you?" There was another gust of wind, hard enough to rock the tower slightly. This entire structure was far to unstable.

Fang only shrugged, slinging a lazy arm over the top of her knee. "Sorta. Could use something crazier, though."

"…crazier, huh?" Lightning repeated Fang's words, slowly. There was an easy solution to that, and it really _would _have to be the craziest thing she'd ever done. It was a whole other rush in itself.

_Just hurry up and do it, if you're going to do it at all._

Lightning was certain that this wasn't the kind of situation her father had had in mind for his advice, but it hardly seemed to matter that that moment as she reached out to grab a handful of Fang's blue sari, pressing her lips against Fang's hard enough to bruise. She was startled by the eager response from the other woman, and Lightning pulled back quickly, breaking the kiss and staring at Fang. Her breath was shaky, her heart pounding in her ears again.

Fang didn't look bothered by Lightning's forwardness. If anything, the suggestion of shadows in her eyes were gone and – Fang was _grinning_.

"See what I mean? Do something crazy, get your mind off it all," Fang told her airily, waving exhaustedly. "I guess your way could also work."

Maybe, for just for a moment, Lightning could help with whatever burden Fang carried, in the same way that Fang was helping with hers. It seemed like a fair enough deal. To help each other stay sane under the pressures of a dark past and an uncertain future. Lightning felt herself smile, but a stronger gust of wind snatched all other thought away. There was a deep rumble coming from below them, and Lightning went cold.

_Oh no. _She closed her eyes, wishing that this was _not happening. _When she opened them, Fang looked a little ill as a dull roar began to fill the air, gathering volume and intensity with every passing second. The entire tower began to sway. Fang cursed and summoned her crystal, before giving Lightning a mocking glance.

"You know what, Light? I take that whole 'get your mind off everything' plan back. This is _your_ fault. Adrenaline junkies and their rushes…"

Fang tossed the crystal up, so high that it seemed to be nothing but a glint in the sky. Lightning smiled, feeling the rush of adrenaline scouring her – and then they were off again.

* * *

**A/N: **And that's this oneshot done. I swear to god, this fic has so many outtakes and scrapped material I could make a whole other fic with it all. So many concept revisions, alterations, additions and subtractions…

Another story, another attempt to portray different aspects of this 'ship (the last two from me have been fluff, which is not my usual forte). Hope you guys enjoy the last FLight from me for the year, and have some happy holidays! As always, reviews and feedback are appreciated.


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